Dance with me
by Atari-chan
Summary: Sirius hates dancing. Remus changes his mind. Slash.


Summary: Sirius hates dancing. Remus changes his mind. Possibly a little OOC.

Start Story:

"Remus?"

It was nothing but a simple house party; a chance for the older members of the Order to let their hair down and relax; something that seemed to be occurring less and less as they days went by. But, because of this, the number of people in the HQ drawing room meant that the relatively young man whop crossed the room to speak with his friend went unnoticed by most. Of course, seeing the two of them together was a common occurrence as well; the old school friends were often seen sitting apart from the rest of the group, deep in a conversation that only they understood, oblivious to their surroundings.

Close as they were, however, neither of them even considered the possibility of the event that we are about to witness- in fact, they were probably even more surprised by it that their friends were. But enough of the mystery, I'm sure you all want to know what I'm talking about.

Upon hearing his name, Remus looked up to see who had spoken, his eyes leaving the tabletop and settling on those of his friend.

"Sirius," he greeted, smiling and hiding his surprise about the fact that he was currently foremost on Sirius's mind when the newest and admittedly most attractive member of the Order had asked him to dance only two songs previously. It could have been because, as Sirius had mentioned on many occasions- most significantly their fourth year Yule Ball, an event that had Harry and Ron in stitches whenever it was recounted- that he hated dancing with a passion; it could have been because Sirius didn't know exactly what the young woman really looked like. Or, as he hardly dared to hope, it could have been because Sirius had seen him sitting alone all evening and wanted to know what was wrong.

"You're not 'partying', as Nymphadora so delightfully refers to it," Sirius said, his own smile carefully masking his concern as he noticed how tired his friend looked.

"I notice you refused her own personal offers," Remus arched an eyebrow, his amused expression remaining intact even as he saw that the pink-haired young woman who was the topic of their current conversation was watching them curiously as she conversed politely with Mundungus.

"I hate dancing," Sirius's tone turned dark and his smile faded, but when he spoke again, he brightened again, "but you don't."

"I'm…" as usual, Remus found himself making excuses for himself, "not in the mood," he dropped eye contact, unable to come up with anything imaginative or even believable to say. He knew it was a lie, and even without looking up he knew that his friend knew it too. Sirius, loyal as always (a trait, Remus supposed, that had influenced his animagus form), said nothing, but merely watched him for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Then he stood up, and Remus couldn't help but feel a little neglected as he figured that Sirius was leaving. There were, however, no fading footsteps to indicate that his friend had done so, and he looked up to see Sirius standing in front of him, a hand outstretched in invitation.

"Dance with me?" Sirius asked, his dark eyes sparkling. Remus stared at him for a moment, unable to believe what he was seeing. Sirius? Dancing? With him? It couldn't be right… not Sirius. Dancing. With him.

"Before we're old…" Sirius prompted after a moment, inwardly delighted by his friend's evident shock but aware that they only had an hour or so before the night was over.

It seemed to work; Remus only stared at him for a few more seconds before accepting his hand (for which Sirius was thankful, since his arm was starting to ache) and allowing himself to be lead into the centre of the room, which had been labelled as the dance floor. A little awkwardly, since both men were aware of the increased number of eyes on the, they moved together, Sirius linking his left hand with Remus's right and resting the other on his friend's hip, while Remus placed his free hand on Sirius's shoulder, feeling rather self conscious but, at the same time, incredibly warm inside as he felt how close they were. A few minutes passed in silence, and the rest of the room returned to their previous activities, before Remus spoke.

"You hate dancing," he said, with a slight frown, and Sirius's eyes locked with his. At such close quarters, Remus shad to struggle not to drown in them.

"Not with you," Sirius smiled, a gesture that only intensified as he saw Remus flush slightly. He hadn't blushed in years…and… were those tears in his eyes? He removed his hand from his friend's hip to brush them away before they fell, a gesture which, as Remus didn't flinch as Sirius's occasionally clumsy fingers neared his eyes, showed just how much trust they had in each other. As Sirius's hand returned to it's original position, however, he allowed it to drift a little slower, his smile broadening once more as he felt Remus start and move closer to him, away from the offending appendage. Taking advantage of their temporary closeness, Sirius snaked an arm around his partner's waist, preventing him from re-establishing the distance between them. To his surprise- one of the few emotions that seemed to be registering through the moderate drunken fog enveloping his brain, Remus didn't even attempt to, instead settling into a more comfortable position for the proximity, with his arm around Sirius's neck.

They continued to move with the music, which had slowed considerably since they started, due to a little intervention on the part of Mrs Weasley, and it was only a few more minutes before Sirius, emboldened by his previous successes, asked a question that had been on his mind for the previous two months.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked quietly, and regretted it instantly as he felt Remus tense, and saw the pure shock in his expression, which he usually managed to keep neutral in the worst situations.

"I mean, I won't if you don't want, I just… look, forget I said anything, "Sirius added quickly, his face and mood falling swiftly as he realised what he'd done, and how it could affect his future with his friend.

"No!" Remus objected, a little too loudly and much too quickly, but thankfully the music meant that sound didn't carry far. The intensity of the emotions implied by his response, however, meant that Sirius was looking at his rather curiously.

"Uhh…" he racked his mind, "you can… if you want," much to his frustration, Remus felt himself flushing again, and noticed Sirius arch an eyebrow in response.

Sirius's expression soon split into a smile, however, and Remus was momentarily stunned by how gorgeous it made him look, with the various lights around the room reflecting in his eyes. He reached his hand up again, to cup Remus's chin, and just looked at him for a moment, savouring the feeling of familiar warmth against him, the sight of those warm brown eyes so close to his, the faintly musky, earthy smell of the gorgeous man in front of him… he highly doubted he'd ever experience something that amazing again.

"Before we're old?" Remus prompted eventually, amusement evident in his voice and expression as he figured that, if Sirius's pupils dilated any further, he'd **really** be able to tell Kingsley where to stick his telescope the next time he annoyed him during a stargazing session.

Sirius snapped out of his trance, taken aback by Remus's easy shot at humour in such an emotional situation. Did it care so little that a simple kiss meant nothing? Or… could he really want it?

Before he had a chance to take any action, however, Remus shifted his arm, pulling him into a simple but tender kiss. There was a collective sudden inhalation around the room as everyone realised what was happening, but neither of them heard it as Sirius allowed a small whimper to escape his throat, and tilted Remus's head to the side slightly as he pulled him closer. His brain had hardly had a chance to absorb that, however, when suddenly a tongue was at his lips, seeking entry, and he willingly obliged, not exactly sure what he was doing through the combination of drink, shock and arousal clouding his thoughts but allowing his instincts to take over as he finally- **finally**- got what he'd wanted- needed- for so long.

Remus smiled as he felt Sirius growl deep in his throat and finally respond with the feral vigour that he had always adored. Having to fight the urge to roll his eyes as he Sirius's hand left his and ended up where the other had previously been, he tangled the fingers of his now free hand in Sirius's hair, preventing him from moving away- not that he needed to- and simply allowed himself to drown in the experience, his senses clouded and confused but somehow sharper than they had ever been before, his tiredness dissipating… his left buttock suddenly in immense pain.

"Sirius…" their mouths untangled for a brief moment, then met again, and Remus had to force himself to continue, "that **really** hurts," he tugged vaguely at Sirius's wrist, still reluctant to break the kiss that, in all honesty, was worth the ten times the pain he was in. Sirius, however, realising exactly what it was he was doing, pulled back immediately, caught between embarrassment and apology.

"Gods, I'm sorry," he breathed, leaning his forehead against Remus's, "you're just so…" he trailed off, unable to think of a strong enough edjective,. And was suddenly aware if the eerily loud silence surrounding them. Remus seemed to be doing the same thing, and they simultaneously broke the embrace, Sirius grinning in a '_what else could I do?_' sort of way, while Remus struggled to keep his expression neutral as he concentrated on not dying of embarrassment. There was a vacant pause, before Fred and George Weasley- who since they had technically come of age would not be deterred from attending the gathering- started applauding. It didn't take long for the others to join in, and Remus couldn't hide the blush that crept onto his cheeks, but thankfully was saved from having to comment as Sirius pulled him into a bow, figuring that they should at least acknowledge the support, before dragging him out of the room and into the hallway, where they stood for a moment, catching their breath.

"Wow…" Sirius said eventually, his grin threatening to cut off the top of his head. Laughing softly, Remus nodded his agreement, before wordlessly suggecting that they go someplace more private as a familiar flesh coloured string slid under the door.

No one noticed that the party was now three people short of its initial numbers. No one asked what had happened to the bubbly pink-haired young woman who had seemed so happy just a short while previously. No one heard her sobbing into her pillow late into the night, mourning a love lost and nursing a broken heart.

And in the morning, no one asked, or even wondered. No one knew how she felt, the pain that sliced through her each time she saw them share a conversation, a special look, a gentle kiss.

And no one would ever know. Not while the three of them still lived; she would make sure of that. She would not urt both of them for her own sake, because she knew that, in the end, they were the only ones who could make each other truly happy.

End 

It's not exactly sure when this is set; it's a little dodgy, but hopefully you can deal with that. At least that way it fits in, because quite frankly the whole thing's pretty dodgy. I've never quite got that sort of scene right. Let me know if I got Lupin's eye colour wrong, or if there are any other things you think I should change, because I'm always open to constructive criticism.


End file.
